Victims Come Forward After Legal Advice Is Shown To Be Fraudulent

Victims Come Forward After Legal Advice Is Shown To Be Fraudulent

Man operating out of Casa De Amigos said he was a member of the Lubbock Catholic Diocese...but he wasn't

MIDLAND -- Casa De Amigos bills themselves as 'people helping people help themselves.'

They are a non-profit organization and allow people to provide services in their building.

Unfortunately, it seems one man, Hector Hernandez, was in fact making a profit after he was let go from the Lubbock Catholic Diocese.

Hernandez used to give legal advice out of Casa De Amigos in Midland.

Only, it seems, he wasn't authorized to give that advice, nor was he allowed to charge for those services.

"This is not a crime unless you can prove it's a crime," Hernandez said.

He was not an employee of Casa De Amigos, they only offered him space to operate from.

"The service I provide at Casa De Amigos is an independent business," Hernandez continued.

Casa De Amigos brought in Hernandez while he represented the Catholic Diocese of Lubbock.

An investigation by Univision 18 showed that he no longer worked for the Catholic Diocese.

As soon as that report aired, Casa De Amigos forced Hernandez to leave.

Now, victims are coming forward saying they paid thousands of dollars for services.

One woman paid him $4,300 to help with her husband's immigration papers.

Despite all that work, he's still in Mexico.

"Well, I'm very upset about this because he wasn't supposed to do that. I already talked to him and he said he's going to keep going with my case, so I don't know what's going to happen," one woman told us.

She's not the only one either, other people have yet to see the results Hernandez promised.

"I thought everything was already being processed. Then I came again and he said they're now being processed. He asked for money and I gave it to him. In total, he asked for about $1,000," another victim told us.

For some, it's difficult to come by this money that's been taken from them.

"I make around $600 every two weeks. It took me a very long time to earn this money. I work on a ranch," one last victim shared with us.

Casa De Amigos released a statement saying that they brought in Hernandez while he was with the Diocese.

Once they found out he was not they released him immediately.

For those that lost money to him though, at least one woman said the foundation should be responsible.